McFlying the Island nest to the Sunday papers.(Interview)

McFly last week announced that they were to give away their new album with The Mail On Sunday. Radio:ACTIVE, the first on their own label Super Records, will come free with the paper on July 20, with a deluxe version featuring four new songs, a bonus DVD and a 32-page booklet released physically in September. Music Week spoke to the band's singer/guitarist Tom Fletcher about why he believes the promotion will boost music retail.

You're on your own label now after several years with Island. How did the new label come about?

We left our record label at the end of last year, but we didn't announce it until this year. We left on good terms with the label but we had creative differences. It was perfect timing; we were just about to start to record our fourth album.

Presumably you had offers on the table from Island?

They wanted to sign us. They kept on making us offers, but we felt we would be better off doing it ourselves. We are lucky because we have very loyal fans.

How did the Mail On Sunday deal materialise?

The creative and musical side is very important to us and also the way in which we get our albums out there. Being signed to a major, there were lots of restrictions. This was an incredible opportunity to get our album out to 3m homes in one day.